Anticipation

University of Warwick, Learning Grid

Other Sections

Imagination

Implementation

Evaluation

Resource Collection
inc. case studies, flickr photo library, virtual campus and further resources

Management Issues

The Space Management Group (SMG) identifies the three sets of internal factors that affect an institution's approach to space as changes in:

academic disciplines
pedagogic approaches and
managerial factors.

Their pragmatic, but in many ways disturbing, view is that it is the managerial factors that will have the greatest impact on space utilisation over the next few years. We include this section not to contradict what was said earlier about moving forward based on a macro level strategic approach but simply to highlight some of the issues you will have to face in promoting the first two as the more significant drivers. Many of the SMG observations are based on the process of incremental change to an existing estate but should be borne in mind when considering new build projects.

'But insofar as students come to see themselves more as paying customers...they may expect classes to be provided at times convenient to them, rather than at times which allow institutions to maximise space usage.'

Space Management Group⁴

The SMG notes that for the most part individual departments no longer control 'their' space except where the space is for highly specialised functions. They suggest that this can result in reducing teaching time as students spend more time moving around the campus and may reduce opportunities for informal learning, e.g. immediately after a lecture, and reduce staff/student social contact.

The extended teaching day seen in most institutions offers obvious efficiencies in the use of space (changing opening hours from 9.30-17.30 to 8.30-18.30 is the equivalent of almost 1.5 days per week teaching time). However it seems that, despite the popularity of technology-supported 'anytime, anywhere learning', there is still a reluctance on the part of students and staff, often due to childcare and transport considerations, to physically attend early and late sessions.

Students as paying customers may also have views on their learning that do not accord well with current views on what makes an effective learning experience. The SMG notes that students often object to a reduction in lectures.

'The demise of the formal lecture has long been predicted, based on empirical findings as to its general ineffectiveness as a means of learning. Nothing we have heard or seen, however, suggests that this will happen in the foreseeable future. ...More creative design of lecture theatres (with horseshoe-shaped layouts and better eye contact, for example), and easier to use technology, means that lecturers are able to present material in a variety of formats, and to demonstrate processes, in ways that once would have been impractical. These improvements may partly account for the lecture's continued popularity.'

Space Management Group⁴

The SMG also notes that in many HEIs the need for all academic staff to have their own office, with space for their own books, is still seen as an important aspect of academic life. The original design of such offices was usually predicated on the need for the room to accommodate small tutorial groups leaving them as large spaces for sole occupancy but inappropriate for teaching most current seminar and tutorial groups.